ADAY aims to simplify your wardrobe with $2M in funding

ADAY, a fresh entrant in the highly competitive world of direct-to-consumer fashion, has raised $2 million in new funding for its mission to simplify wardrobes with a line of durable, technical, and chic womenswear.

The company is the latest in an ever-expanding movement of startups that offer direct-to-consumer products for the fashion-conscious consumer. Venture-backed lifestyle startups like Outdoor Voices, Glossier, Allbirds, Thinx, Function of Beauty, DSTLD, and Bonobos are just some that have appeared in recent times, snapping at the heels of larger e-commerce sites.

The company's latest financing includes investment from H&M CO:LAB, H&M’s venture capital arm, ADG, a consumer tech-focused fund; and SoGal Ventures. As part of the fundraising round, Nanna Andersen, who started H&M’s venture capital arm, will join ADAY’s board.

The company's catalog features season-less, versatile, clothing that can be worn several ways. Every ADAY piece of clothing features a host of novel material properties. The clothes are all sweat-wicking, quick-drying, UV- and chlorine-protected, and wrinkle-free.

While those attributes are most commonly associated with workout or "athleisure" wear, ADAY is focused on a new category of women’s ready-to-wear apparel across your entire closet.

Its capsule wardrobe concept is rooted in their seven original staples, and is built upon with pieces from their Technically Tailored collection, focusing on pieces you can wear socially or professionally, and their Mutliplicity collection, recently launched last week focusing on pieces that can be worn multiple ways.

“Our design thinking challenge was how can we create performance, but do it in a really invisible, minimalist way to create the most beautiful staples a woman could wear,” said ADAY Co-Founder Nina Faulhaber.

ADAY launched in 2015 with a stated vision of matching the latest in material technologies, garment design and manufacturing with an emphasis on sustainability.

ADAY invests heavily in R&D to innovate durable, technical fabrics, features social activists as their clothing models, and skips prints and bright colors, since complex fabric dying is one of the greatest environmental waste generators in the fashion industry.

Previous seed investors include Cowboy Ventures, Venrex, Truestart, as well as lifestyle entrepreneurs like the founders of Lyst, The Kooples, Deliveroo, Amorelie, and Zola. Other angel investors who backed the company hail from larger companies like Bare Escentuals, Net-A-Porter, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Spotify. In all, ADAY has raised $3.1 million.

While roughly 90% of the company's revenue comes from online sales, ADAY is using pop-up shops to bolster their direct-to-consumer strategy in physical outlets -- and plans to open a permanent location in 2018, the company said.